municipality
A municipality is usually a single administrative division having corporate status and powers of self-government or jurisdiction as granted by national and regional laws to which it is subordinate.
The term ''municipality'' may also mean the go ...
in the district of
Vallemaggia
The Vallemaggia District is a district of the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It has a population of (as of ). The capital of the district is Cevio.
Geography
The Vallemaggia District has an area, , of . Of this area, or 1.7% is used for ...
in the
canton
Canton may refer to:
Administrative division terminology
* Canton (administrative division), territorial/administrative division in some countries, notably Switzerland
* Township (Canada), known as ''canton'' in Canadian French
Arts and ent ...
of
Ticino
Ticino (), sometimes Tessin (), officially the Republic and Canton of Ticino or less formally the Canton of Ticino,, informally ''Canton Ticino'' ; lmo, Canton Tesin ; german: Kanton Tessin ; french: Canton du Tessin ; rm, Chantun dal Tessin . ...
in
Switzerland
). Swiss law does not designate a ''capital'' as such, but the federal parliament and government are installed in Bern, while other federal institutions, such as the federal courts, are in other cities (Bellinzona, Lausanne, Luzern, Neuchâtel ...
. On 20 April 2008, Avegno and Gordevio merged to form
Avegno Gordevio
Avegno Gordevio is a municipality in the district of Vallemaggia in the canton of Ticino in Switzerland. It was formed on 20 April 2008 when Avegno and Gordevio were merged.Amtliches Gemeindeverzeichnis der Schweiz published by the Swiss Federal Statistical Office accessed 14 January 2010
History
Gordevio is first mentioned in 1200 as ''de gordauio''. In 1335 it was mentioned as ''de Gordavio''.
The
parish church
A parish church (or parochial church) in Christianity is the church which acts as the religious centre of a parish. In many parts of the world, especially in rural areas, the parish church may play a significant role in community activities, ...
of SS Giacomo e Filippo, is first mentioned in the 13th century. The current building was built in the 17th century on the remains of a previous church from the 14th century. It contains paintings by
Giovanni Antonio Vanoni
Giovanni Antonio Vanoni (1810–1886) was a Swiss painter.
In 1857, Giovanni Antonio Vanoni and Giacomo Antonio Pedrazzi painted the Church of S. Vittore in Muralto
Muralto is a municipality in the district of Locarno, in the canton of Ticin ...
(19th century) and probably by Giuseppe Antonio Felice Orelli, who created
fresco
Fresco (plural ''frescos'' or ''frescoes'') is a technique of mural painting executed upon freshly laid ("wet") lime plaster. Water is used as the vehicle for the dry-powder pigment to merge with the plaster, and with the setting of the plaste ...
es in the adjacent ossuary in 1753. In village of Brièè, in 1666, the chapel of S. Antonio Abate was built. In the 14th century both Gordevio and Avegno had their own
chaplain
A chaplain is, traditionally, a cleric (such as a Minister (Christianity), minister, priest, pastor, rabbi, purohit, or imam), or a laity, lay representative of a religious tradition, attached to a secularity, secular institution (such as a hosp ...
. The two villages broke away from the mother church in Maggia, and parted from each other probably about 1645.
The village center of contains some houses from the 19th century. Due to lack of farming land, emigration (at first mainly to Rome, but in the second half of the 19th century overseas as well) lowered the number of inhabitants. In the last decades of the 20th century, the population has risen again. This increase is mainly due to its proximity to agglomeration of
. Agricultural jobs have practically disappeared from the village.
Geography
The village is located in the Vallemaggia district. It consists of two sections, Villa and Brièè, which are separated by the Ri di Gèi stream.
Coat of arms
The
blazon
In heraldry and heraldic vexillology, a blazon is a formal description of a coat of arms, flag or similar emblem, from which the reader can reconstruct the appropriate image. The verb ''to blazon'' means to create such a description. The vis ...
of the municipal
coat of arms
A coat of arms is a heraldry, heraldic communication design, visual design on an escutcheon (heraldry), escutcheon (i.e., shield), surcoat, or tabard (the latter two being outer garments). The coat of arms on an escutcheon forms the central ele ...
is ''Per bend gules two fleurs de lis argent and of the last a cross pattee per saltire azure and of the first and overall a bendlet of the third.''
Demographics
Gordevio has a population () of 812. Most of the population () speaks
Italian language
Italian (''italiano'' or ) is a Romance language of the Indo-European language family that evolved from the Vulgar Latin of the Roman Empire. Together with Sardinian, Italian is the least divergent language from Latin. Spoken by about 85 m ...
(675 or 84.6%), with
German
German(s) may refer to:
* Germany (of or related to)
**Germania (historical use)
* Germans, citizens of Germany, people of German ancestry, or native speakers of the German language
** For citizens of Germany, see also German nationality law
**Ger ...
being second most common (80 or 10.0%) and
French
French (french: français(e), link=no) may refer to:
* Something of, from, or related to France
** French language, which originated in France, and its various dialects and accents
** French people, a nation and ethnic group identified with Franc ...
being third (29 or 3.6%). There are 3 people who speak Romansh.
Of the population in the village 305 or about 38.2% were born in Gordevio and lived there in 2000. There were 236 or 29.6% who were born in the same canton, while 115 or 14.4% were born somewhere else in Switzerland, and 100 or 12.5% were born outside of Switzerland. , there were 346 people who were single and never married in the village. There were 354 married individuals, 58 widows or widowers and 40 individuals who are divorced.STAT-TAB Datenwürfel für Thema 40.3 - 2000 accessed 2 February 2011
There were 59 households that consist of only one person and 24 households with five or more people. Out of a total of 274 households that answered this question, 21.5% were households made up of just one person and 7 were adults who lived with their parents. Of the rest of the households, there are 64 married couples without children, 104 married couples with children There were 26 single parents with a child or children. There were 12 households that were made up unrelated people and 2 households that were made some sort of institution or another collective housing.
there were 260 single-family homes (or 78.5% of the total) out of a total of 331 inhabited buildings. There were 64 multi-family buildings (19.3%), along with 4 multi-purpose buildings that were mostly used for housing (1.2%) and 3 other use buildings (commercial or industrial) that also had some housing (0.9%). Of the single-family homes 12 were built before 1919, while 10 were built between 1990 and 2000. The greatest number of single-family homes (84) were built between 1919 and 1945.Federal Statistical Office STAT-TAB - Datenwürfel für Thema 09.2 - Gebäude und Wohnungen accessed 28 January 2011
there were 422 apartments in the village. The most common apartment size was 4 rooms of which there were 112. There were 18 single room apartments and 122 apartments with five or more rooms. Of these apartments, a total of 270 apartments (64.0% of the total) were permanently occupied, while 142 apartments (33.6%) were seasonally occupied and 10 apartments (2.4%) were empty.
The historical population is given in the following chart:
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bar:1283 from:start till:120
bar:1283 at:130 fontsize:S text: " 30 Hearths" shift:(8,5)
bar:1591 from:start till:230 text:"230"
bar:1709 from:start till:650 text:"650"
bar:1850 from:start till:373 text:"373"
bar:1860 from:start till:342 text:"342"
bar:1870 from:start till:358 text:"358"
bar:1880 from:start till:332 text:"332"
bar:1888 from:start till:314 text:"314"
bar:1900 from:start till:278 text:"278"
bar:1910 from:start till:265 text:"265"
bar:1920 from:start till:259 text:"259"
bar:1930 from:start till:246 text:"246"
bar:1941 from:start till:254 text:"254"
bar:1950 from:start till:266 text:"266"
bar:1960 from:start till:294 text:"294"
bar:1970 from:start till:354 text:"354"
bar:1980 from:start till:559 text:"559"
bar:1990 from:start till:671 text:"671"
bar:2000 from:start till:798 text:"798"
Politics
In the
2007 federal election
This electoral calendar 2007 lists the national/federal direct elections held in 2007 in the de jure and de facto sovereign states and their dependent territories. Referendums are included, although they are not elections. By-elections are not i ...
the most popular party was the SP which received 27.17% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were the CVP (26.51%), the FDP (21.86%) and the
Ticino League
The Ticino League ( it, Lega dei Ticinesi) is a regionalist, national-conservative political party in Switzerland active in the canton of Ticino.
The party was founded in 1991 by entrepreneur Giuliano Bignasca and journalist Flavio Maspoli. Af ...
(13.94%). In the federal election, a total of 262 votes were cast, and the
voter turnout
In political science, voter turnout is the participation rate (often defined as those who cast a ballot) of a given election. This can be the percentage of registered voters, eligible voters, or all voting-age people. According to Stanford Unive ...
was 45.5%.Swiss Federal Statistical Office, ''Nationalratswahlen 2007: Stärke der Parteien und Wahlbeteiligung, nach Gemeinden/Bezirk/Canton'' accessed 28 May 2010
In the '' Gran Consiglio'' election, there were a total of 576 registered voters in Gordevio, of which 358 or 62.2% voted. 3 blank ballots were cast, leaving 355 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PS which received 88 or 24.8% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD+GenGiova (with 85 or 23.9%), the SSI (with 73 or 20.6%) and the LEGA (with 44 or 12.4%). Elezioni cantonali: Gran Consiglio, Consiglio di Stato accessed 23 November 2010
In the ''Consiglio di Stato'' election, 4 blank ballots and 1 null ballot were cast, leaving 353 valid ballots in the election. The most popular party was the PS which received 97 or 27.5% of the vote. The next three most popular parties were; the PPD (with 88 or 24.9%), the LEGA (with 73 or 20.7%) and the SSI (with 50 or 14.2%).
Economy
There were 318 residents of the village who were employed in some capacity, of which females made up 41.2% of the workforce. , there were 86 workers who commuted into the village and 226 workers who commuted away. The village is a net exporter of workers, with about 2.6 workers leaving the village for every one entering. About 14.0% of the workforce coming into Gordevio are coming from outside Switzerland.Swiss Federal Statistical Office - Statweb accessed 24 June 2010
Religion
From the , 632 or 79.2% were
Roman Catholic
Roman or Romans most often refers to:
*Rome, the capital city of Italy
*Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD
*Roman people, the people of ancient Rome
*'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...
, while 52 or 6.5% belonged to the
Swiss Reformed Church
The Protestant Church in Switzerland (PCS), (EKS); french: Église évangélique réformée de Suisse (EERS); it, Chiesa evangelica riformata in Svizzera (CERiS); rm, Baselgia evangelica refurmada da la Svizra (BRRS) formerly named Federation o ...
. Of the rest of the population, there were 2 members of an Orthodox church (or about 0.25% of the population), and there was 1 individual who belongs to another Christian church. There was 1 individual who was
Islam
Islam (; ar, ۘالِإسلَام, , ) is an Abrahamic religions, Abrahamic Monotheism#Islam, monotheistic religion centred primarily around the Quran, a religious text considered by Muslims to be the direct word of God in Islam, God (or ...
ic. 80 (or about 10.03% of the population) belonged to no church, are
agnostic
Agnosticism is the view or belief that the existence of God, of the divine or the supernatural is unknown or unknowable. (page 56 in 1967 edition) Another definition provided is the view that "human reason is incapable of providing sufficient ...
or
atheist
Atheism, in the broadest sense, is an absence of belief in the existence of deities. Less broadly, atheism is a rejection of the belief that any deities exist. In an even narrower sense, atheism is specifically the position that there no ...
, and 30 individuals (or about 3.76% of the population) did not answer the question.
Education
In Gordevio about 313 or (39.2%) of the population have completed non-mandatory upper secondary education, and 77 or (9.6%) have completed additional higher education (either
University
A university () is an institution of higher (or tertiary) education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. Universities typically offer both undergraduate and postgraduate programs. In the United States, t ...
or a ''
Fachhochschule
A ''Fachhochschule'' (; plural ''Fachhochschulen''), abbreviated FH, is a university of applied sciences (UAS), in other words a German tertiary education institution that provides professional education in many applied sciences and applied arts ...
''). Of the 77 who completed tertiary schooling, 55.8% were Swiss men, 37.7% were Swiss women. , there were 3 students in Gordevio who came from another village, while 105 residents attended schools outside the village.